Dame Esther Rantzen joins chorus of parliamentarians and dying people warning Peers: “Do Not Sabotage Democracy” on assisted dying
The Bill, supported by three-quarters of the British public and already twice backed by the House of Commons, is currently subject to what MPs have called “procedural manoeuvring” (Kit Malthouse MP, PMQs, 19 November 2025) by a handful of hardline opponents in Parliament’s unelected chamber.
With more than 1000 amendments now laid down in an apparent attempt to delay and derail the Bill’s progress by filibustering (talking up parliamentary time by extended/unnecessary debate), Dame Esther Rantzen today joins more than 100 dying people and bereaved families, and scores of crossparty Peers in calling out parliamentary gamesmanship and urging respect for the democratic process. Amendments include an effective ban on the ‘bucket list’ holiday, in which nobody seeking assistance to die is allowed to leave the country within 12 months of death, another seeks to make sure that every single applicant must have a negative pregnancy test before accessing the service.
Addressing Peers directly in the recording, Dame Esther says:
“The particular circumstances of the Bill are up to those parliamentarians who have been looking at it with such care and professionalism, and we want to get it right. But don’t tell me that 900 plus amendments is about getting it right.
“…what I’m saying to you is: don’t try and sabotage democracy. Give us all the choice that you would want yourself. And then we can die in dignity, pain-free, and leave our families and our loved ones with happy memories. That’s all we ask.”
Nat Dye MBE, 39, music teacher from Essex living with terminal cancer, said:
“I love my life – I want every extra day I can get – but I also know how brutally this disease can end. I’ve seen loved ones die from similar cancers. I’ve seen what that suffering looks like. I’m asking peers to see us, to understand that this isn’t abstract. Your decisions decide whether people like me have to endure agony at the end of our lives, or whether we’re allowed a kinder option. This is your chance to give people like me the choice to protect our final days. Please let us have the same dignity, the same mercy, already offered in so many other countries.”
Sarah Wootton, CEO of Dignity in Dying, said:
“As terminally ill people from across the country watch on, a handful of hardline opponents in Parliament’s unelected chamber are flagrantly ignoring democracy and playing games with people’s lives and deaths. Fair, evidence-based scrutiny and debate is necessary and welcome, but that’s not what this is.
“This is a deliberate attempt to subvert the will of the Commons and the British public on assisted dying; a strategy to run down the clock on this Bill while dying people run out of time. As the actions of a minority of Peers risks bringing the reputation of the whole House into disrepute, a growing chorus of voices inside and outside Parliament are coming together for dying people, calling on Peers to approach this issue with the maturity and respect it deserves.”
Amendments tabled from Peers on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill so far include:
- Baroness Coffey, 15; “has not left the UK in the last twelve months”. In practice, this would stop a dying person being able to see family members who live in other countries, perhaps for the last time; to go on a dream holiday as part of their ‘bucket list’
- Baroness Grey-Thompson, 24, 458 “must provide negative pregnancy test”. This flies in the face of person- centred care and reproductive freedom. It also creates a requirement for a 90-year-old man with terminal prostate cancer to take a pregnancy test to satisfy the panel that he is not pregnant.
- Lord Frost, 121 “leave out “Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner” and insert “Commissioner for the Provision of Medical Help to Commit Suicide.” Part of a series of amendments that insert the phrase “commit suicide” into the Bill. “Commit” in this context is anachronistic and is used to imply an act of crime or a mortal religious sin. The use of the word “commit” when discussing these sensitive issues runs counter to guidance provided by the Samaritans, the Suicide Prevention Alliance, Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and others.
- Baroness Coffey, 1 etc. A series of amendments relating to Wales that deny legal choice to Welsh terminally ill people.
- Lord Moylan, 236. Bans NHS doctors from supporting their patients to access a legal end-of-life option.
*ENDS*
For more information, please email tom.steen@dignityindying.org.uk, or call 07356135578.